Barbara G. Tucker is the author of five novels: Bringing Abundance Back, The Unexpected Christmas Visitors, Traveling Through, Cross Road, and Legacy. She is also a college administrator, professor of communication, mother, wife, ESL instructor, Bible teacher, and follower of Jesus Christ. She lives in Northwest Georgia.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Fresh Look at Matthew: End of Matthew 13

Matthew 13 ends with three parables and a rejection
notice.There may be a deeper meaning to
the parables of the field and pearl, but they seem straightforward.The kingdom of heaven is worth more than any
human or natural object and people should and will give all for it.The dragnet is somewhat like the wheat and
tares; the kingdom of heaven is not just the church, so the idea of there being
bad “ones” in it is enigmatic.Perhaps
some will claim to be part of the kingdom but really aren’t.They are false claimants. The people of Nazareth may have suffered from corporate low
self-esteem and didn’t want one of their own to get above his raising, but in
this case their social blinders, like the Pharisees’ religious pride blinders, kept
them from belief.What are our blinders,
the filters, that keep us from seeing Jesus and the kingdom?Thought on prayer for the morning.We pray for God to change people’s hearts
when it is mostly our own that should be.We may be praying for others to change so our own lives will be easier rather
than for that person’s temporal and eternal good.